“Where’s Waldo?” gets a little existential in Etsy’s charming holiday spot.
As Halloween season ends and the race to the holidays begins, it’s fitting that our top two campaigns of the week dealt with both—with Facebook making an impressive last-minute appearance ahead of Halloween, and Etsy telling a charming early holiday story.
Elsewhere this week, we got two strong comedy campaigns and one visually impressive spot from Apple—in a week when not everything went right for the tech giant.
Check out the full top below.
Families are full of conflict. Can Life360’s Tile tracking devices ease some of the drama? Quite possibly, say Alto’s darkly comic spots, directed by Steve Ayson. The hyperbolic scenarios are stand-ins for ones that are all too real—losing an expensive coat; not being able to locate your teen; needing to get in touch urgently. The comedy simply makes learning about the functionality more palatable, which is always a challenge in tech campaigns.
Clearly working off the playbook of last year’s Mother spot with Robert De Niro and Asa Butterfield, Special U.S. promotes Uber One for Students with a “Back to School” scenario involving Brian Cox returning to college—just for Uber’s student discounts. It’s not on the same level as the Mother work, but it’s fun throughout. And kudos for letting Cox get comfy in his gruff character—even letting an F-bomb fly.
Apple didn’t do itself any favors with its Apple Intelligence ads earlier in the week, but this spot for the M4 Chip is a delight—a visual extravaganza from directors Megaforce that shows a weighlifter effortlessly twirling his weights like they’re a baton. As usual, Apple collaborated with the best, including champion baton twirler Yvonne (Bonnie) Palacios and Hollywood choreographer Denna Thomsen. The old Des’ree track “You Gotta Be” brings everything home.
In the days leading up to Halloween, Facebook and agency Mojo Supermarket convinced actual haunted houses across the country to put items from the homes up for sale on Facebook Marketplace. They even listed an entire house—Mystic Manor in Pennsboro, West Virginia. In a world where many brands like to dip their toes in Halloween hysteria, this was remarkably immersive and authentic, drawing in the horror-curious and paranormal collectors alike.
The old visual puzzle book series “Where’s Waldo?” would seem an unlikely inspiration for a holiday ad, but Etsy does wonders with it, kicking off the holiday season in style. The idea that Waldo is always just a face in the crowd, seen but not appreciated, is a nice way into Etsy’s message of making people feel special at the holidays. It’s fun seeing people react to Waldo throughout the spot, and the ending is as sweet as can be. Holiday ad season lasts forever, and many of the spots are overly treacly, but this spot is a more-than-promising start.
